Sager Import: Custom Duties?

Me and Helios have been sharing words and i just wanted to know from those who have had the fortunate (perhaps unfortunate) experience of importing a laptop from xoticpc.com

The arguement is basically wether or not it's worthwhile to import when you can buy from; say, a european vendor like Kobalt.
By buying from these resellers you have things like VAT and Customs included.
As long as your country is a member of the EU there should be no additional charges/ fees except for perhaps the delivery cost.

My arguement is that such resellers operate with inflated prices because of the added bother of importing the package (in this case a laptop).
I think that with the recession hitting the UK and the with the current value of the dollar. I think it would work out significantly cheaper to order form xoticpc and pay VAT as it comes rather than to buy a laptop from a European reseller at inflated rates.

I have also been told by the customs and tax bureau that laptops are generally exempt from customs duties. At least in the UK.

Has anyone out there ordered from xoticpc to the uk or any other country? And what were your experiences of the transaction

-Mickyv33

 

Get the laptop from XoticPC and ask them to undervalue it for custom purposes.

Where I am from (Trinidad, not UK, but we inflate prices of electronics and video equipment just fine by ourselves), if a laptop goes over 2k, its kept in customs for 3 weeks and during that time any idiot working there can steal it (happened to 5 school video cameras already). I asked my retailer to undervalue the laptop due to this issue and when it gets shipped out, its going to be valued around $1700.

Seriously, who can tell the difference between a $800 to $3000 dollar Sager by physical appearance?

 

If you're looking for a good-priced European vendor, check out www.notebookguru.de

I found their prices to be much cheaper than Rock, Kobalt and the rest.

The Clevo D901C (Sager 9262) model complete with E6850, 2GB RAM and 8800GTX is only 1870 Euros + 25 Euros shipping. 70 Euros for 6 months no dead pixel warranty.

That's why I chose mine from their shop. Lol in my case it cost me more due to the specs I ordered in my signature... but it was still way cheaper than other European vendors.

 

While xoticpc has excellent warranty, I don't think they cover international shipping in their warranty.
So while it might be cheaper to import your notebook from xoticpc, the warranty will be much better with companies like, say, Kobalt Computers.

And normally, you have to pay VAT on all electronic devices you import...

 

I would love to see documentation on this no customs on laptops if possible.

 

Ill try and get some solid evidence. Maybe ring them up now if they're still open

 

I ordered from Xotic and I got smacked with a $320 charge in taxes. That's not bad considering I was expecting 400+.

 

I'm also betting this is illegal.

 

To be certain wheter or not the np8660 requires a customs duty i need to get a commodity code from this number: 01702366007

I will ring them tomorrow to be certain then i will let you guys know how it goes.

 

who was your retailer? and dont u think undervaluing will create a problem in the warranty?

 

Yeh dude getting a product under valued to avoid the duties is tax evasion and is a crime.
I dont know if i would risk that. If your caught out. Your not getting your laptop.

I also seriously doubt that xoticpc would agree to it and consequently under-price their product

 

The best deal for the D901C inn Europe is www.kobaltcomputers.co.uk

 

We at Eurocom ship Units to the UK on a weekly basis. The standard VAT Tax paid on these units is 17.5% the value. Noooo.. we will not undervalue the unit. That is illegal!

Just thought I would help with some info!

 

17.5%? Ouch.

I no longer feel quite as bad about Ontario taxes.

 

Yes, It's 17.5% in the UK. Damn. I can't stand UK electronics' prices. A lil bit more expensive than the US + 17.5% :cry:

 

yeh i ordered from xoticpc and got it over here to Australia. i had to pay 10% GST on it though which came to 583AUD. but in the overall grand scheme i still saved my self about 1700AUD buy buying it from the US rather than here.

 

I might infact get my relatives in Texas to order it for me and then send it to me via fedex or parcel force or something. Im now looking into this alternative as well.

 

wow the 17.5% is realllly huge an amount, imo.. wad does the government do with that! i paid 7% tax for mine and i'm super broke now.. only good thing is that... singapore retailers don't sell this kinda laptop with this kind of SPECS. so the few hundered shouldn't make me feel bad.. cos the monster here pays it all back with its performance.

back to the point, since you said xoticpc was cheaper when you calculated including VAT, then why not go with them? unless the laptop has a very very high risk of getting stolen on the way to you, then you should go with them.. or you could call your local reseller and BARGAIN the price with them..

 

Its not the VAT that bothers me. It's the prospect of paying customs duties on the laptop. These could amount to perhaps a few hundred pounds if implemented on my order.

7% sounds good though. I might move to singapore.

Im gonna get the commodity code to check with the tax and revenue service wheter or not the np8660 is subject to the customs duties i mentioned earlier.
If they say i will have to pay anymore than £50 ontop of the already hefty £200 VAT then im going to get my American relatives to buy it and send it over here.

Honestly the lengths i go to get the best. If i order this i genuinely think i'll be the only person in Ireland perhaps even the UK with the NP8660.

 

What is illegal is having your laptop stolen from customs due to the length of time it stays there and the value placed on the system and no one is held accountable.

So nope, in my books, this is not illegal, its a necessity.

P.S. Here there are no duties on computers, however, if a computer is over 2000 us, it stays in customs for 3 weeks, plenty of time for those greedy little hands to grab it.

 

While I can understand your reason for doing this, it's still illegal. And yes, I read your earlier post. Tax evasion is illegal.

 

I think what dtwn83 meant was that it is highly illegal for a company to undervalue a product so that less tax is payable for the end user/customer.

 

Well, I see. The company only agreed to do this when they researched and found out my country does not tax computers, but my only concern being that a system over 2000 US would just be held back for clarification its use (as most people buy systems under 1000 US and less down here, unless its a MAC).

And recently my school had the same delay with 10 Sony V1U cameras (each $3000 US at the time), they paid the 30% tax on each one, and mysteriously, 5 of them 'vanished'. Upon investigation, everyone in customs had nothing to say on the whole issue. No one got blamed, nothing happened.

I'm sorry, I AM NOT taking chances on my laptop!

 

Fair enough, since laptops are not taxed upon import, you're not practicing tax evasion. Interesting though, so cameras get taxed, but laptops don't?
Well Neil, since laptops don't get taxed on imported laptops in Trinidad, it would be illegal for the retailer to undervalue its product but not for the buyer since there wasn't any tax to evade; however, if this was in a country which taxed laptops, it would be illegal for both the buyer and seller to do so.

Moreover, what I meant was that Deathwinger is telling the OP to commit tax evasion, since you do get charged VAT on imported laptops for the EU and UK.

 

You right. I've heard plenty f bad tales from customs theivery but are oyu positively 100% sure that there are no duties on notebooks. Thats what i was told by the HM revenue service but she told me to get a commodity code for it to be certain.
I have rang the number they gave me numerous times but to no avail. Im getting pissed with the ****ed up way of ignoring me they have just taken on

 

What do you think of my previous solution to this whole fiasco by getting m relative to buy it and send it over through FedEx.
I have not really researched doing this much so i have no idea how it would play out.
The basic idea is that as she lives in Texas she could order the Laptop recieve it a while later in order to send it to me in an unmarked box with no value attached to it. The idea is that by doing this i can avoid the hefty VAT and Customs duties (if any).
Im also aware that some shipping companies like FedEx offer insurance on whatever they ship. So for an extra few quid i have my laptop covered.

I understand that this is technically illegal but the fact that VAT is there in the first place is just wrong.
Just like the US and Cuba; Ireland and England are envolved in a trading embargo. It's been evident since about 1913 where England imposed Heavy Trading duties on Ireland for disobeying laws favoring the English Importers.

Sorry bout turning this thing into a history lesson. But there ya go

 

I'm always against taxes, but no US Sager reseller will undervalue a laptop for you to pay less taxes (as the US law prevents them from doing that).
Second, there are no import duties on laptop in the European Union. There is only VAT that you pay. I can confirm this as a friend of mine asked the customs.
mickyv33, if you insure the package for 2000$ you will pay VAT for that declared value (insured value). If you don't declare it has any value (0 value) then they might open it and take a look at what's inside, then they will probably ask you to provide an invoice, then if you don't have one they will probably force you to pay a standard VAT according to some catalog they have. Or you might not pay VAT, but I think you must not declare any value (probably meaning no insurance) to avoid it.

 

Yeh man well i checked again with the HM revenue service and they told me again that there is no customs duties on laptops.
However i still couldnt get hold of the specific commodity code required to ensure that the particular laptop does not need a cusoms fee.
I woudnt get the laptop deliverd if it wasnt insured so i guess im gonna have to pay this VAT as depressing as it is. It aslo means another week or two's wages but what can you do.

I'd like to thank everyone for contributing to this Thread and for all the help and knowledge you guys provided.

I think in the future i will produce a guide for this forum regarding tax and customs for a whole variety of countries so other people of a similar disposition can benefit from the info we've required.

It would by a nice thing to do.

-adios amigos
, Mickyv33

 

You pay customs some tax only if you get a non-premium shipping option (USPS EMS for instance covers everything as far as I know of, others such as DHL, UPS, FedEx have this kind of shipping option too).

 

Sorry for bumping this but I'm in a bit of trouble . On the subject of importing and tax.. I recently ordered a Macbook from eBay and it arrived, I opened it expecting a UK macbook (as thats where the seller and I live and she didn't state anything different.) it was a european 2 pin plug and I look at the manual and it's in Dutch. I looked on the side and "Nederlands" was there.

Now, I wasn't exactly thrilled that she didn't tell me it was Dutch but I also know the keyboard should be almost identical to the UK one minus the £££££ sign being somewhere different and the plug is easy enough to replace/adapt. But, my question is... is it legal for me to own this imported macbook? Surely I would need some sort of proof that I imported it legally? Also, I take it I would lose my manufacturers warranty? (even though I'm not sure if I get that in the first place if I bought it off eBay)

Thanks a lot

EDIT: I realise this might not be the place to post it ... but the thread was related.

 

While im not sure about the legalaties of the import i can tell you that in order to be able to use the warranty you must own a proof of purchase. In other words you will need the original receipt and/or the warranty card from the previous owner. This way the manufacturer/reseller or whoever your getting the repairs from can tell how old it is and what warranty if any still applies.
You should ask the seller if the have the proof of purchase or if they have a warranty card for the laptop otherwise i don't think you'll be able to seek repairs.

 

You can't "import" it illegally, is inside the european union anyway . The warranty might be tricky when you buy macs off ebay but no idea how that works.

About the sager US thing, what discount are we talking about if you buy from US compared to EU? I thought in UK those prices are because your crazy 20% VAT . So I bet if you get the price from US add the uk vat and a 2-300usd for shipping you'd be somewhere close to the UK prices. Plus, if you need to ship your computer for repairs you'd have to pay a bit too much for the shipping .

 

Hi all,
I found a link that states customs duty on laptops imported into UK is zero but the VAT is there at 17.5%. Check out
Classification of popular products

Dated last year, but no major updates has happened since, except some stop press info which do not relate to computers.

From the document, I have cross checked the code of laptop( its a generic one, nothing mentioned for specific laptops) and compared it here
Business Link for Import/Export Tariffs. It says the same thing.

Hope this helps. I am myself planning for importing one from xoticpc, hence the research

 

Yeh dude. Your 100% right. I've known this for a good while though through checking with the HM revenue service i suppose i must not have posted it though.
Are you importing a laptop into the Uk or do you live outside it?

 

i still think this will work out dearer in the long run especially if you have to send it back for repair as you will have to pay p&p back to america.